and love

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Linda at her house. Such a beautiful house! Full of authentic finds in every nook, collected through the years with love and an eye that never fails to spot the best of the best.

I do think that's precisely the ingredient of The Cottage's success that simply can't be replicated or reproduced or just plain "pulled off" elsewhere. Not in the same way. If you ever do have the luck to be in the neighborhood in Historic Leesburg, you'll see for yourself what I mean. It's in their blend of the beautiful, the well-loved, the special, and the tongue-in-cheek whimsy, always accented with the most perfect shade of robin's egg blue that is their signature. The first time I walked through the doors, the very first day they opened, I felt, inexplicably, like I was home. A little bird who'd found her nest again. I couldn't believe my eyes, or my luck.

An editor for a national magazine had the same such luck recently. I don't want to let any cats out of any bags or jinx anything, but said editor wanted immediately to have pictures of the shop and Linda and Ann's homes. Yesterday, while I was visiting my friend Linda, I snapped some pictures of her beautiful and elegant home's interiors. It was truly like opening up a page of a magazine and magically walking right into the pages, room after room.

I'm sure Linda will share more photos of her home on the cottage's blog here so be on the look out for that. Ann and Linda are on a shopping trip today, hopefully finding all sorts of wonderful things to love up the shop with. If you're in the neighborhood this week, you should definitely stop by.

Today, I'm quietly working on something for you. A little bit of Valentine love. Here's a peek...



p.s. We are officially certified to be foster parents! woo hoo! Now we're just waiting for the call.